This article argued that in a pluralistic and complex society such as Nigeria the invocation of Shari'ah (Islamic law) does not augur well for the survival of democracy. The traditional belief of every Muslim is that fundamentalism has been and must continue to be rooted in the concept of theocracy upon which the medieval institution of the Caliphate actually rested. Muslim political leaders challenge the agitation for a secular state in Nigeria as an inspiration by Christian theology based on Western European thought. This article argued that political and social progress in Nigeria is unrealistic without the separation of religion and politics. It was identified in this article that the separation of religion and politics does not go down well with Islamic eschatology and cosmology, because Islam's main theological drive is toward an Islamic world empire. The solution offered in this article was that emphasis should be on ensuring that any legal framework or constitutional arrangement should be one that safeguards the interests of all citizens.

Al-Janabi, M., 2002, 'Islamic civilization: An empire of culture', in K. Nur & P. Yuriy (eds.), Values in Islamic culture and the experience of history, pp. 49-75, The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy, Washington. [ Links ]

Mamdani, M., 1998, 'When does a settler become a native? Reflections of the colonial roots of citizenship in Equatorial Guinea and South Africa', Inaugural Lecture, University of Cape Town, South Africa, 13 May. [ Links ]